Introduction: Like father, like son. How many of us have heard that saying? Perhaps we should ask this: how many of us have made the same mistakes as our dads? We may never know how closely Isaac copied his father’s mannerisms or way of managing a household but we do know he followed Abraham’s example one time—and to the same degree!
Isaac left his home country
Text, Genesis 26:1-5, KJV: 1 And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar. 2 And the LORD appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of: 3 Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father; 4 And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; 5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
Famines can and do affect various places in the world. Isaac’s father, Abraham, had experienced a famine over 100 years before when he lived in Canaan (the complete story is told in Genesis 12). In one of his first and worst failures, Abraham decided to find food in Egypt but almost lost more than he would have gained. He lied (well, he said in so many words it was a half-truth), saying that Sarah wasn’t his wife but his sister. The king of Egypt promptly took her into his own household and it was only by God’s intervention that Abraham got Sarah back! They were also “escorted (!)” out of Egypt and returned to Canaan. Had Abraham told Isaac about this, or was this an attempt at a dodge to stay alive?
Now another famine had come to Canaan but this time, Isaac went no further than the land of the Philistines. Isaac had apparently received permission from Abimelech, king of the Philistines (verse 1) to stay there. Even though there is no record where Isaac had requested guidance from the LORD as to where to go, the LORD appeared to Isaac and told him, “Don’t go to Egypt, but stay in the land I’ll show you (almost the same words Abraham had heard when he entered Canaan over 100 years before, long before Isaac was born).
So, no problems up to this point. Isaac had received a blessing from the LORD and confirmation that he was in the right place for this period of time. It seems, also, that he was at peace with the ruler of the land where he was dwelling at the time. After all, Abraham had lived in peace with another Abimelech years before and it’s likely their story or history was known in the land of the Philistines. As a note, the word “Abimelech” comes from two words meaning “my father is king” and it may be a title, not a proper name. Or, this could have been a hereditary name such as George I, George II, and so on. I once knew a man who was “so-and-so IV (the fourth)”! Regardless, Abimelech was the king and he was living in peace with Isaac and his household.
That is, until something awfully familiar took place.
2 Isaac lied about his wife
Text, Genesis 26:-7, KJV: 6 And Isaac dwelt in Gerar: 7 And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for
Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon.
Verse 6 states Isaac dwelt in Gerar. This is familiar because Abraham had done the same thing several years before this (Genesis 20), in Gerar, after Lot and his two (surviving?) daughters were escorted out of Sodom (Genesis 19:12-29). Even though he was close to 100 years of age, and Sarah about 90, Abraham still lied and said, “She’s my sister” about Sarah. By the way, that lie hadn’t worked in Egypt, either, about 25 years before (Genesis 12), and guess what? It wasn’t going to work now, either.
The text doesn’t say how long Isaac had dwelt in Gerar but it probably didn’t take long for the men of that place to notice his wife, Rebekah. Abraham’s servant had noticed her beauty as well as her willingness to assist a stranger (Genesis 24) and it would seem she kept that beauty for several years. Even Sarah, at age 65, was considered “very fair (Gen. 12:14)” before she was taken into Pharaoh’s household. No matter Rebekah’s age, she was still a very beautiful person.
Isaac, however, seemed to have the same kind of insecurity about this as his father. Just like his dad, Isaac said, “She’s my sister” and, you may ask, why? It was because he was afraid to say, “She’s my wife” over fear someone would kill him.
Fear makes people do strange things, or things they might not do otherwise. If nothing else, Isaac might surely have heard about Abraham’s two different encounters, lying about Sarah, almost losing her twice, for good, and realizing that lies never work! Abraham had had to deal with the “fallout” or effects of his lies (being kicked out of Egypt the first time, and risking any number of things the second time) and why Isaac thought the same lie, even at a different time and with different people would work, is beyond anything we could think of.
But how did the people, and especially the king, find out that Isaac and Rebekah were more than just brother and sister? The next few verses describe this, almost humorously!
3 Isaac had to listen to a foreign king
Text, Genesis 26:8-11, KJV: 8 And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife. 9 And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Behold, of a surety she is thy wife: and how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die for her. 10 And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us. 11 And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.
Isaac and Rebekah had lived in the land of the Philistines “a long time” but Moses didn’t say exactly how long. Nor did he indicate if Isaac and Rebekah had stayed in separate dwellings—after all, they were “brother and sister”; Isaac had said so!
But one day, Isaac and Rebekah met and were “sporting”. The definition of “sporting” is not clear as the word in the original language has multiple translations according to several concordances. In other words, they were doing something that Abimelech, king of the Philistines, was more than just a brother and sister kind of thing.
But that wasn’t all.
Abimelech (promptly?) called Isaac and asked him, “She is surely your wife, not your sister, so tell me why you called her your sister?” Isaac seems to have stumbled for words here, saying, “Lest I die for her”. He could have been right: after all, this was the same fear (and the same lie) that his father had used years before—here in Gerar! Abraham had explained that he had not noticed a fear of the True God in the place, even though the Abimelech of his day had spoken to the True God, the God of Abraham. Isaac mentioned nothing of this. Perhaps he was ashamed that he had been caught in the act, so to speak, and was too embarrassed to explain further?
And Abimelech wasn’t finished. He pressed Isaac a little harder, it seems, and asked a second or follow-up question, “What is this you did to us?” He added, “One of our people might have slept with your wife and that would have brought guiltiness on us!” He was absolutely right! Isaac had let the people in his local area fall into temptation—what else could you call it when other men were asking about Rebekah? And they probably weren’t asking where they could send love letters, either. They wanted, it seems, something more.
Perhaps aware of this, Abimelech promptly gave his people a strong warning: “You touch this man or his wife and you’re dead.” Granted, there was no discussion about a revelation from the God of Isaac about any of this but that wasn’t the point. Even in pagan cultures there seemed to be a respect for marriage and a penalty for those who violated that relationship.
That seems to be the end of this episode. Nothing more is mentioned about anybody trying to take advantage of Rebekah or Isaac, and there is no record that Isaac was anything but truthful with Abimelech during the time Isaac lived in Abimelech’s land. The “she’s my sister” lie didn’t work for Isaac’s father, Abraham, and he found out that it didn’t work for him, either. May we have the courage to not only tell, but live, the truth during our time on Earth.
Conclusion: Isaac thought he was protecting himself and Rebekah by lying, claiming she was his sister. He found out otherwise, and we will too, if we trust in anything except our Lord!
Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV)
